For years, this infernal rag has run special issues that included profiles of awesome people (with an accompanying glamor shot) who never could quite make it into our paper's regular rotation of crime, sex and taquerías, but who definitely deserved the love. We loved writing them because it allowed us to shine a spotlight on the amazing folks who are Orange County's saving grace: the community activist, the clubs promoter, the chef at the front of the latest culinary phenomenon, the religious mensch, and so forth.
Flash forward to a couple of years ago, and our big-sister paper, LA Weekly, created an entire issue devoted to such profiles, deeming it the “People” issue. The special edition (complete with three different covers) proved such a smash that other papers in our chain lovingly took the idea and made it theirs. So, as Dylan once screeched, we're bringing it all back home and debuting our first People issue!
Inside are 30 full-page profiles shot by our house photographer, John Gilhooley. You'll find many of the unearthed gems we're famous for uncovering, as well as some big names you'd think we'd never bother with because we try to be oh-so-cool (we root for the Anaheim Ducks, too, you know, and Teemu Selänne was a class act whom we wish other pro athletes would emulate). You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll plotz. We look forward to turning OC People into an annual tradition à la Summer Guide and Scariest People, so take a copy from your favorite rack and spread the love. And if you want to meet some of these people, check out our first Artopia event on March 22 at the Yost Theater, where we'll present them with plaques for being so damn awesome. Enjoy!
